Happy Place || A Jerrie Fanfiction

XXXII - PEOPLE PLEASER

a/n: belated merry christmas, guys!

The sun meets the sea as it sets for the evening, coloring the sky a shade of orange and red. After a few silent minutes of ambling, Perrie leads me to a somewhat secluded part of the beach save for a few people on the beach huts.

She sits down beside this humongous rock situated just a few inches away from the shore, and she gestures for me to do the same. It feels we're on a whole different world because of the coverage it provides us from everyone else. Something warm floods my chest at the thought that we're finally alone.

"Hit me," she says once I'm seated, her lopsided smile plastered onto her face.

I take a moment of silence to try and muster up the courage to tell her what I've been trying to since she came back home. When I do, I force my eyes to look straight ahead and not at the gorgeous woman beside me whose blonde hair swaying away with the wind and ocean blue eyes glued on my side profile.

"I . . . I lost my mom two years ago," I start almost breathlessly, cautiously, as if telling her that was a risk I'm not sure I'm willing to take.

She freezes at the statement. "Jade . . . I —"

Without looking at her, I reach out to her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. Then, I carry on, "It was a car accident. Mom was on her way home, but at the intersection, the . . . the driver — the driver ran the red light and so they —" I choke up, tears springing at the corners of my eyes.

"Jade, stop." Perrie grips my hand hard enough that I had to pause mid-sentence and peer at her. Her eyebrows furrow as she shakes her head. "Why are you telling me this? Where is this coming from?"

"I didn't want you to feel alone," I whisper with a crack on my voice. "Perrie, I know we only just met but I just want you to know that I — I'm here."

A scoff escapes her lips before she stands up abruptly to my dismay. "But not for long, right?"

"What?" I stand up as well, watching in confusion and panic as she dusts off the sand that stuck to her jeans and walks away afterwards. I have no choice but to follow her.

"You know —" she laughs in disbelief as she stomps on, her hand combing her hair in exasperation. "For someone who's just staying for vacation and is clearly looking for a fucking fling, you're so nosy, Jade Thirlwall!"

I abruptly stopped trailing after her. Her words are like needles in my chest, and I feel like I couldn't breathe because the more I do, the more painful and paralyzing these needles could inflict upon me. She spins around to face me. Her face has turned red and her hands are fidgeting uncontrollably.

Where is this coming from? Why is she being like this to me? I was just trying to make her realize that she's not alone — that she has me. I lost a loved one, too.

A lone tear rolled down her cheek without her permission and she angrily swipes it away before I could do it.

"Stop caring about me if you're just gonna leave me like my mother did. I can't —" a sob rips through her throat accompanied by a few tears that she once again tries to dry off but to no avail. With a deep breath, she plows on, "Jade, I can't handle another heartbreak."

"Pez," I sigh. I take a step forward to reach out to her, but she pushes my hand away and shakes her decisively.

"Those who are dear to me get to call me that," she muttered, then jabs a finger at me, "and you're not one of them, Jade."